Reading in the news - Thu 13 Apr

A viral video of actor Morgan Freeman criticising US President Joe Biden is a deepfake, according to Reuters’ Fact Check team. Professor Dominic Lees (Film, Theatre, Television) is quoted explaining how to spot indicators of deepfakes. Read Professor Lees’ expert comment on deepfakes. 

Food and farming: 

• Dr Aleks Pluskowski and Dr Rowena Banerjea (Archaeology) are quoted in Heritage Daily and Delicious Food about a new study set to examine the agricultural advances that occurred during the ‘Green Revolution’ that took place across the medieval Islamic world. Read our news story. 

Health and wellbeing:

• India Education Diary mentions research from the University about the brain function benefits of eating blueberries. Professor Claire Williams (Psychology) is quoted. Read our news story.

• Professor Ian Jones (Biological Sciences) gives insight on tick-borne encephalitis, which is caused by a virus recently found to be spreading in the UK. Kent Live, Cheshire Live, Gloucestershire Live, Grimsby Live and report. 

• Modified Botox could be the answer to chronic nerve pain for some patients, new research supported by Dr Maria Maiaru (Pharmacy) shows. Plastic Surgery Practice and Heart Radio report.

• Food Engineering and Ingredients quotes Professor Donal O’Sullivan (Agriculture) about the sequencing of the faba bean genome. Read our news story. 

• Reader’s Digest Canada mentions Professor Gunter Kuhnle’s (Food and Nutritional Sciences) 2015 research which found that greater sugar consumption leads to a higher BMI. 

#PlanetPartners: working with global partners to protect the environment

• PhD student Chris Wyver (Agriculture) features on ITV Meridian to promote Fruit Watch. a project that asks 'citizen scientists' to record when fruit trees blossom. Read our news story. 

• More coverage on research co-authored by Professor Hannah Cloke (Geography/ Meteorology) about how elites’ excessive use of water is driving urban water crises in cities all over the world. Mid Day, Cronaca Di Sicilia, Uppsala University, MyZA, News24 South Africa, GroundUp and more report. Read our news story. 

• PhD student Isabel Smith (Meteorology) is quoted by The Points Guy in an article about how turbulence leads to flight delays. 

Business and society:

• Professor Andrew Urquhart (ICMA Centre, Henley Business School) co-authors an article for Interest on what Binance’s US lawsuit means for the future of cryptocurrency regulation. 

Culture and heritage: 

• Siegener Zeitung and others mention Professor Anne Lawrence-Mathers’ (History) comments on the inconsistencies between different sources regarding lunar eclipses, in relation to research about volcanic eruptions in the Middle Ages. 

• Dr Christopher Burke (Typography) is mentioned in an Indien Aktuell article about an international conference he is giving a lecture at later this month. 

Other coverage: 

• Professor Hong Yang (Geography) writes for Nature’s Career Column about how he uses ChatGPT responsibly in his teaching. 

• A contestant named Rowan on the BBC game show Impossible mentions their employment at the University of Reading. 

Alumni: 

• Urav Soni, who studied politics and economics at the University of Reading, writes for Enterprising Investor about building portfolios.

• Irish Farmers Journal mentions Dr James Hanks’ (work to develop a colour-coded system that helps dairy farmers understand Johne’s disease test results.